


cruisin' for a bruisin'

by heymickey



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Teen Beach Movie!AU, as a treat, bellamy is the leader of the bikers, clarke is the leader of the surfers, everybody is entirely too sweet probably but i think there's a healthy amount of edge, it's basically a disney movie with a sprinkle of land development and federal crime, there's a karaoke night, there's songs from tbm and also phineas and ferb, this is literally just for fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22222039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heymickey/pseuds/heymickey
Summary: the bikers and the surfers bicker over who's in control of big mama's on the reg and bellamy and clarke are the main offenders. as leader of the bikers, bellamy obviously thinks that the burger joint should be for the bikers. clarke is confused why bikers want a beachside diner when it is obviously a spot for the surfers. but when a land developer comes to buy up big mama's and turn it into hotel, they team up to keep the diner out of corporate's hands.in the meantime, bellamy and clarke grow closer.or the Teen Beach Movie fusion you never asked for. the land development plot is really playing second fiddle to bellamy and clarke figuring each other out and growing closer.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, the briefest of Clarke Griffin/Finn Collins
Comments: 2
Kudos: 52





	cruisin' for a bruisin'

**Author's Note:**

> you used me... for LAND DEVELOPMENT. 
> 
> anyway i love teen beach movie. both of them. i started watching the 100 around the same time as i became enamored with tbm so my brain put them together to get this. bellamy and clarke are probably horribly ooc at this point in canon but oh well. i wrote this when season one was fresh. 
> 
> so yeah, i hope you like it!!

Surfers versus Bikers. Rivals for as long as anyone can remember. But one particular point of contention is who has control over the local burger joint that is situated on the beach. Nobody really knows why bikers actually like it there but it may just be another way for them to annoy the surfers, oh, and Big Mama has the best shakes in town so maybe it's not that big of a mystery. 

The trouble really only comes when they're all in the same room together. There is endless bickering and nasty side eyes being thrown about like nobody's business. And the two leading perpetrators are Bellamy Blake and Clarke Griffin, leaders of the bikers and surfers respectively. Each interaction between the two is thinly veiled with the kind of irritability that only comes when two stubborn people have conflicting viewpoints and goals. It's almost always the same argument but somehow these two haven't tired of it. 

"The Drop Ship's ours." 

"Why do you even like it here? It's on the beach, which is where you surf, and you always complain about the sand in your boots. If you would just stay away and out of the Drop Ship, you wouldn't have this problem." 

"That's not the point, princess." 

It's an endless cycle of Clarke trying to be rational and convince him through facts but Bellamy is all about the feeling and sentimentality of the joint. Conflicting viewpoints. A cyclical argument that will never be resolved. Their friends have come to just tune them out. So they don't notice the burgeoning respect that comes to grow between the two. Each acknowledges the others strengths and weaknesses. They actually realize that they complement each other quite well but that has no place in their on-going war for jurisdiction over the Drop Ship so they try to keep that to themselves and not let the others know. It would just be too confusing for the leaders to actually like each other. Bikers and surfers don't get along, let alone be friends. That would just not do.

Until everything they built between them goes to shit. 

It's karaoke night at the Ark and surfers get there first, but the bikers don't care about that. The thing about karaoke night at the Ark is that it's not just standing on stage singing a Top 40 hit. No this is serious business. It's more of an open mic night than karaoke. Bellamy and the bikers have a signature number that they do when everyone who's in the number is present, which is actually not that often because it involves Octavia, Bellamy's little sister. She only comes when she doesn't have homework or work and tonight is the first night of summer. School just let out this week so everyone is a little wound for sound. So that night is special already. Octavia puts her quarter in the jukebox to start the number. 

_You better run, run, run_

_Here we come_

_Revving our engines under the sun_

_You're cruisin for a bruisin_

This song is basically the anthem for the bikers. They have choreography and everything. An essential element to the choreography is Bellamy's hair. He has to have it slicked back, like he always does. He's got the whole Danny Zuko thing down like it's an art form. 

_We do anything we want_

_Anytime we want_

_Oh yeah_

_Oh yeah_

Bellamy also seems to have this mentality of "whatever the hell we want" which you would think goes well with the surfer mentality, but then you've never met Clarke Griffin who is a notoriously serious person. The stereotype that all surfers are freewheeling hippies that don't take anything serious absolutely does not apply to Clarke Griffin. She didn't get into the sport for the camaraderie (which she admits is nice). She got in for the technical challenge and the thought that goes into it. Weather patterns, tidal surveillance, the process of creating and maintaining your own board always fascinated her. And she was determined to master it. So when she became one of the best surfers in town, and even the country, she was naturally selected to be the leader of the local young surfers. They go to her for advice or even a stitch or two if the situation is dire enough (she had been training with her mom so she didn't seem like a total failure to her before she royally fucked that up). All in all, Clarke is kind of a no nonsense type of girl and she's too much of a mentor to actually let loose for a little bit.

So when a new guy with wavy shoulder length hair and smirk like a shark actually gets Clarke to crack a genuine smile, not an amused smirk, everyone is impressed and happy for her. This new guy, Finn (what an ironic name for a surfer), quickly works his way in and wins most everyone over. Even some of the bikers because he's just nice and not into physical conflict at all so he always tries to avoid such fights that happen on occasion. He worms his way in and Bellamy is not happy about it. Bellamy thought he was making real progress with Clarke but he feels like nothing even happened when he sees her with Finn. It's like she's the stereotypical surfer that he thought she was before he got to know her. So he's not at all surprised when he hears a murmuring through his crew that speculates that Clarke and Finn are fucking on the side. Like a friends with benefits type deal. Bellamy is almost mad that he didn't think of that. Well, he thought about it but never actually put any effort into the idea. The hate sex would have been amazing. But he's almost mad because he doesn't think he would have the very very low key relationship that he has with her now if he had gone for it. So he's almost mad (closer to mad than not). 

This almost anger gives him the confidence to do something he's never done before while performing Cruisin for Bruisin. There's a point in the song where he rearranges his hair and then smacks the juke box to get it going again after it cuts off for dramatic effect. Usually he closes his eyes and let's the moment envelope him. This time though, he searches out Clarke's gaze because he knows she's watching. She looks like she's not amused but he knows she actually likes it, she just can't show it. Once their gazes lock, he smirks and winks and then goes about with the rest of the song. It's a small action that doesn't have any real consequence but it strays from the routine and routine is something that Clarke is accustomed to when it comes to Bellamy; always the same arguments, always the same dance number. So this makes her brow furrow after she is completely flustered by the effect that that simple action has over her hormones. Honestly, they surge. She shimmies in her seat to alleviate some pressure that is steadily rising in her. Utterly confused by the whole situation, she turns to Finn who looks as happy as a clam to be there and oblivious to his girlfriend's (friend with benefit? They haven't had that conversation) sudden change in demeanor. But Bellamy knew exactly what he was doing.

"Come on," she beckons as she takes his hand and leads him out the doors. 

"But.." Finn starts but before he can continue, she is kissing him like there's no tomorrow and she is obviously in need of some assistance at this particular moment. Finn smiles. "Alright, princess, I get the picture." 

When he calls her princess, her mind rejects it because he should not be calling her that in a playful tone. It should be said with a hint of disdain and contempt and be in a lower octave. She pushes that thought away and focuses on the feel of him and the eventual release that she craves. But even after they're done, she's not completely sated. Now she's frustrated because that usually works. But not tonight. _It's because he's right on the other side of the door and in reach. Not across town and not in reach_ , her mind tells her.Without a word, she rearranges herself and walks back into the main room where Bellamy is now sitting and looking up at the stage. Octavia is center stage and looking as fierce as ever. Then her gaze slides to one of her surfers, Lincoln. Clarke knows he's had a fascination with the younger Blake as soon as he spotted her. It didn't help that anytime that Lincoln was around Octavia, Bellamy was also there and Lincoln was not about to jump into that lion’s cage. Clarke is walking back to her seat and isn't paying attention to anything other than getting back to her seat so she could drink her shake in frustrated silence when she is hit off balance by an unsuspecting patron of the Drop Ship pulling out their chair as Clarke walks behind them. This sent Clarke careening into the table next to her which just so happened to be the table that Bellamy was seated at. She not so gracefully fell and was about to do a face plant into the side of the table when two enormous hands caught her before she could actually do some major damage. 

What made this moment more cliche and horrible to Clarke than at any other moment in her life was the music and timing. Octavia was signing her signature song “Fallin' for Ya." So of course Clarke had to fall into Bellamy's arms at the exact time that Octavia was signing the final and most powerful rendition of the titular verse. And of course they're making direct eye contact which is making Clarke feel things that she really doesn't want to feel because she just had sex with Finn so she should not be this turned on. Like really. Rationally, her mind realizes what's going on but her self denial is in full force tonight so she tries to swallow down the urge to never leave his warm embrace and just have her wicked way with him. She clears her throat and looks around and tries to right herself, fidgeting much too much for it to look natural. She ducks her head and murmurs a thanks before practically running to her seat. The whole way to her seat and later that night when she's trying to sleep, the phrase _what is wrong with me_ is muttered between flashes of leather jackets, slicked back hair, and an ungodly amount of freckles over deeply tanned skin. A deadly combination, really. 

That encounter made possible the connection between Lincoln and Octavia to become a two way street instead of just a one sided unrequited love of a gentle giant that could kill you if he really wanted and totally not the guy that Bellamy wants Octavia to fall in love with. Not just because he's a surfer (honestly Bellamy's been over that for awhile now) but because it's his baby sister and his sister is his responsibility. Bellamy had been too focused on the blonde monsoon that careened into him table to notice Lincoln catching Octavia as she twisted off the stage.

Needless to say, the next few weeks are filled with frustration and distress at a whole new level than ever before. Bellamy is frustrated at the whole Clarke/Finn situation and now the Octavia/Lincoln situation as well. Two things he cannot control, try as he might. Octavia is frustrated at Bellamy but at least she has Lincoln. Clarke is frustrated at herself, which is the worst. Finn used to be enough. Really he was but now... He's not. Her brain knows what (who) her body really wants and nothing (no one) else will do. She has decided though, that what she really wants will never happen though. So she has resigned herself and this makes her frustrated and sad and disappointed which is never a good combo when people look up to you and hang onto your every word. Finn notices and tries to help on the only way he thinks will help which is exactly the thing that is wrong. So, being the mature 18 year old she is, she ignores him. Which comes to be a good thing when Raven Reyes comes to town. Raven, Finn's long time girlfriend from back home, Reyes. Raven, who no one not even Clarke had heard of, Reyes. That relationship didn't last much longer. Raven is understandably pissed at everything and everyone. So of course Bellamy sleeps with her. It was the natural progression of things. 

"Did it help?"

"No."

"Yeah, me neither.”

Raven is here to stay so she tries to figure things out. Which starts with getting down to the nature of Clarke's relationship with Finn.

"Did you love him?"

"I barely knew him." 

Finn becomes a scorned member of the society and everyone knows what a big tool he was. But they're not needlessly cruel. The two that were effected most by him have become quite the pair. Two incredibly smart women who had been fucked over by the same guy coming together to form a unified (albeit a little strained at first) front against the bullshit that Finn can spew from time to time. One karaoke night, the girls team up to sing a song while Finn is in the audience.

_She’s gonna see just what your doing_

_And then you’re finally gonna have to stop!_

_Don’t think you’re gonna win this time_

_‘Cause you better believe I’m gonna drop a dime on you_

_I’ll getcha! Yeah! I’ll getcha ya!_

_And when I do you’re gonna be busted!_

_Busted_

Finn tries not to be anywhere where both of them will be at the same time after that. The girls don't want that either so it works out. But eventually, Finn leaves again. And he doesn't come back. Raven doesn't follow him. Everything settles and it’s almost good. 

"We have a problem," Clarke declares as she unceremoniously drops herself in the empty seat next to Bellamy. Meanwhile, Bellamy had been enjoying his burger and was in mid bite when the blonde hurricane came through and shattered his semblance of peace. 

"And what would that be?" Knowing he wasn't going to eat for a bit, he put down his burger and wiped his hands on the napkin and settled in. They had many problems between the two of them. He wondered which one she was going to bring up.

"I overheard my mom talking to Jaha, you know that big real estate guy who buys up anything and everything." Bellamy nodded. He tried buying up his entire block so he could build some condo complex. Yeah, he knew him. "Well apparently he's gonna try to buy up the Drop Ship and the surrounding area so he can build a beach front hotel.”

"No fucking way." 

"Yeah way." Clarke finally made eye contact with Bellamy. "We gotta stop him. He's gone full loco after losing Wells so he's kind of a wild card right now. Wells used to come here all the time. I don't understand why he wants to demolish it. He should want to preserve his world not destroy it." Clarke's fury and frustration was something that Bellamy often saw but it never as passionate as right now. It was also sadder because Clarke was genuinely confused by the whole situation. Bellamy wanted to reach his hand out to hers to stop her from picking at her nail beds but he didn't think that they were at the casual touching level of friendship. This was obviously a diplomatic mission. Not a friend reaching out to a friend. 

"That is if Big Mama even agrees to sell it." Clarke gives him a look that says please don't be so naive. And then her face softens. She looks at her hands and then at a far off point with a far away look in her eyes. 

"Money makes people do things you never thought they would." 

See, it’s vague statements like that make Bellamy nervous around Clarke. He doesn't know her story, probably never will to be honest. But when she says things like that it makes him curious to know every little detail about her life and how she got here in this exact moment. Clarke didn't come into the Drop Ship surfer/biker picture until about a year ago when she showed up out of nowhere and won the annual surfing competition that's held on the beach right outside the Drop Ship. She quickly became a local treasure. No one saw her anywhere but the beach. She never had a house warming party or any party for that matter. She was either at the beach, the Drop Ship, or her place which no one knew where that was, even Finn. She was one big enigma that Bellamy had been discretely trying to figure out but to no avail. So the clue that her mom knew Jaha was just one of those odd middle pieces of the Clarke jigsaw puzzle. 

"Well, first we drum up support from the patrons of this fine establishment by petition and then you talk to Jaha. He knows you and you knew Wells so you would be the ideal candidate. You handle the rich and I'll handle the peasants. That sound good, Princess?" Clarke looked up at him. An odd look passed over her, something not even she could place. There were so many mixed signals in those three sentences. It was like a degeneration from friend to enemy and it was really throwing Clarke for a loop. So she just nodded. 

"Thanks." Then she left. Business done. With nothing else to do that day, she headed back home. Home was an abandoned little cottage right in the beach. It was about a ten minute walk from the Drop Ship. Clarke had found this place after scouring the town for a place to live when she first arrived. It used to be the house for the help for the mansion next door, which coincidentally had also been for sale. Clarke used her trust fund to buy the small house (it was more of a shack to be honest) and she set up shop there. She had been living there for about six months before her mom found her and moved into the mansion next door. She had tried to convince Clarke to move into the mansion but Clarke wouldn't budge. She owned it so what was the point. She liked her solitude. She didn't have to worry about anything or anyone. She could get lost in her boards and her drawings. Solitude was something she valued and she wasn't going to get that in Abby's house and she wasn't going to give it up. Clarke's surprised Abby doesn't drop in more often. 

The next day, Bellamy looks at the watch on wrist and notices that it’s about time to pick up Octavia from therapy. She had been going to group ever since she got out of juvie. Bellamy thought the whole situation was fucked up because she didn’t even do anything. It was their mom, but the court didn’t see it that way. Besides, she was dead anyway and somebody needed to be responsible. So they pinned it on a 14 year old girl who was scared out of her mind. She spent two years in juvie before she was released to Bellamy on strict parole. She needed to go to group and she couldn’t run away or get into any more trouble. Easier said than done with Octavia but Bellamy is trying and he has help. So Bellamy hops on his bike and heads over to the courthouse where they hold group. What, or should he say who, he is not expecting to see is Clarke Griffin strolling up to the courthouse. He cocks his head and follows her in.

She heads to the elevator and presses the up button. There are only so many things on the upper floors. Court rooms, state’s attorney’s office, parole and probation offices. Nothing good can go from going upstairs. Octavia’s group on the first floor so he has no _real_ reason to wait for the elevator, but he does it anyway. Clarke notices him sidle up next to her. She stiffens when she recognizes him and then proceeds to curl into herself more than he has ever seen her. Obviously on high alert.

“Hello, princess.” If she wasn’t going to say it, he was.

“Bellamy.” She nods curtly. He could practically see the anxiety rolling off her.

“Fancy meeting you here,” he says with his signature smirk. Clarke is clearly not up for his shenanigans.She deflates and turns to him with a very tired look on her face.

“What do you want, Bellamy?” He frowns. She’s not supposed to give in this easily. She’s supposed to give as much as she gets.

“Honestly, I’m wondering what you’re doing going up to the no-good part of the courthouse. Not that any part of a courthouse is a good part, but you know. The extra bad part.” She scowls at him.

“I don’t necessarily know if that’s any of your business.” She turns away from him. _Why is this elevator taking so long?_ She presses the up button a few more times in a last ditch effort to make it come faster and out of this horrific conversation with Bellamy. She was not prepared for this today. Her mother had dropped in on her today while she working on her newest board design and declared that she was to attend the Memorial Day celebrations going on at the house (her mother referred to the mansion as “the house” as if it was somehow Clarke’s as well. As if.) without complaint. Clarke absolutely did not want that to happen because it would be filled to the brim with people that she used to associate with. People who knew her before. But then she remembered that Jaha would most likely be there so she begrudgingly agreed.

“It’s not, but I can still ponder.” _Who the fuck says ponder so casually? Oh yeah, Bellamy Blake does because he’s an actual fucking nerd._ Clarke had slowly began to dismantle the carefully constructed facade that was Bellamy Blake before Finn came along. Then Finn kinda consumed her free time and Bellamy was only there in the periphery of Clarke’s life. At the time, she wasn’t too concerned about it. There was only a tiny tingle of sadness. But now it was full grown regret. They had had a good thing going but then she actually acted like a teenager for once and completely abandoned a burgeoning friend for some one who eventually became nothing to her. Such bullshit. She was upset with herself over the whole situation but she was trying to deal with the guilt and regret, so just add it to the list of things that Clarke Griffin has done wrong in her life.

“That sounds dangerously close to the adage ‘curiosity killed the cat’.” She wanted to him to stop this line of questioning. It would only lead to him seeing her in a different light, and not a very flattering one. But she also wanted him to? She kinda wanted him to pry it out of her. To see all her nasty shadows and sharp edges. She wanted _him_ to be the one she spilled everything to, wanted _him_ to be the one she didn’t have to put up a false image around. She already kinda started doing that before Finn but then she stopped for all intents and purposes. She may have dangled that particular part of her life in front of him without any real answers or gratification. She may have brought this on herself.

“Ah, but satisfaction brought it back.” He gave her a mischievous look. She narrowed her eyes at him and then sighed. It seemed like she was going to tell him something but then the elevator doors opened and then another door opened to a dozen teenagers including Octavia spilling out, effectively cutting off Clarke’s possible dialogue. Clarke stepped into the elevator and waved at Bellamy as the doors shut on him.

“Hey, Bell.” She gave him a look of concern when she noticed Clarke but she wasn’t going to hide anything.

“Hey, O.” He threw an arm around her shoulders.

“What was the princess doin’ here?”

“I have no idea.”

Now Bellamy definitively knew that Clarke had a secret. She was becoming more and more of an enigma and it was doing nothing for his curiosity. Sure, he respected her boundaries and he wasn’t going to force her to tell him because he’s not _that much_ of a dick. But still, a guy could wonder. This just let his mind go wild with possibilities. Then detective mode came on. He remembered that she wasn’t in business attire or anything fancy so she couldn’t have been going to court. The he came to realization that he’d never seen her out of surfer gear or her signature outfit of shorts and flowy tank top with Converse sneakers. Then again, he never wears anything other than the stereotypical biker gear so he cannot judge her. _Do you wear fancy stuff to meet with a lawyer?_ No, you don’t. At least he didn’t when the whole Octavia situation happened. So she was either going to probation/parole office or meeting up with a lawyer. The princess just got so much more interesting.

***********

It’s Memorial Day and Clarke is not a happy surfer. First, she was in the presence of her mom’s high society friends who didn’t talk about anything other than their jobs or their “fabulous” vacations they just took. Really it was all one big game of one-up. Second, she was in heels. Technically wedges which were infinitely more comfortable than the stilettos her mother had picked out, but still. Wedges or any raised shoe is hell on earth when walking on uneven ground. At least her dress wasn’t completely awful. She actually kind of loved it. It was a sun-bleached white and had a wide enough collar that the tops of her long billowing sleeves came down off her shoulders to show off her impressive tan lines. It was practically a shift dress with an airy fabric coming down to her mid thigh. She had her hair in braid off to one shoulder. All in all, she looked like a beach chic hippie and she was all for it. She was just glad she didn’t look like her grandmother.

Clarke scanned the crowd in search for the one and only person she wanted to talk to: Thelonious Jaha. She needed to get down to the whole Drop Ship situation right quick. She was not losing the one spot she had outside of her shack. Eventually she found him at the bar. She sidled up next to him without actually looking at him and spoke his name to get his attention. He turned to her with raised brows like he was surprised that she graced him with a conversation. Which he was.

“Clarke! Haven’t seen you in a while. How are you?”

Not one to beat around the bush, Clarke dove right in. “I’ve been good. I’d be better if you didn’t buy the Drop Ship and turn it into some beach resort.” She took a sip of her glass of water and finally made eye contact. His brow descended from their place high on his forehead to furrowing and making the skin between them bunch up.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Clarke scoffed.

“Sure and my father’s not dead. Let’s cut the bullshit.” Clarke was having none of this. Even though Clarke liked Wells, his father was never on Clarke’s list of favorite people. Those feelings only intensified after her dad and Wells.

Thelonius sighed. “Why do you even care, Clarke?” Clarke glared at him.

“Why do I care? Because I frequent there regularly and, as you should know, I spent many a night there with your son before I went away. It’s like a little piece of Wells for me.” She schooled her expression to be almost blank but it was really hard to hide the sadness she felt whenever she thought about Wells. “Wells loved the Drop Ship. Are you willing to destroy yet another thing that Wells loved?” She knew that was a low blow but she needed to get her point across. Somewhere along the line, this mission became more than just saving the Drop Ship. It became about preserving the little piece she had of Wells and at the same time preserving her way of life at the moment. Despite her mom’s ever over bearing presence, she actually liked what she was doing and who she was surrounded with. An essential part of her life was the Drop Ship and Thelonius was not going to take that away from her. “Besides, I know there would be some very angry bikers and surfers if you destroyed their watering hole and I don’t think you want a hundred teenagers picketing your new resort and making it a hell for all your future clientele.”

“I see where you are coming from. I will talk to my advisors after the holiday. Goodbye, Clarke.” Thelonious was clearly done with their conversation and Clarke in general. She nodded and walked away, a small smile threatening to break the careful mask she made.

The thing about those parties is that the food is never filling. Clarke’s stomach grumbled so she walked out of that borefest and to the Drop Ship. Turns out, the Drop Ship is not open on Memorial Day. She groaned. She had walked all this way for nothing. She sat down on the steps facing the beach in defeat. _You could always make something at home,_ her brain supplied but she frowned at that. Clarke wasn’t feeling particularly domestic that day. Then she heard some commotion down the beach. She pushed herself up and off the steps to walk towards the noise.

Down the beach was party. A big party. A biker party. Her heart went through a weird roller coaster of emotions as she came to that realization. First: disappointment because, well, it’s bikers so she’s probably not welcome. Second: excitement because a certain tall, dark, and curly man would most likely be there. Third: apprehension because he would be there. The last time they interacted on a significant level was at the courthouse where she had come dangerously close to telling him things that she hadn’t told anyone here. That was new and completely unsettling. She didn’t particularly like people seeing her vulnerable. Probably because she rarely ever was. She was always focused on the task at hand which left no room for worrying about her past. But when someone catches you in the act of dealing with it then you’re kind of fucked.

“Princess!”

_Oh, fuck. Seriously?_ Clarke sighed and looked over to see Bellamy jogging towards her. He was wearing his typical attire of a plain shirt and roll-cuff jeans but she noticed that he didn’t have his regulation black boots on. She smirked. _No sand in his boots this time._

“Bellamy.” She nodded. He rolled his eyes.

“Always so formal, princess. Doesn’t it ever get tiring?” He was in a particularly good mood this afternoon and it was rubbing off on her. She could tell as she became more light hearted and embracing one of her favorite feelings of having sand between her toes. She didn't like it. He should not have this much of an effect on her.

“Just fulfilling my duties as the resident princess.” He smiled at her. Not one of his cocky smarmy smirks. No, a real bonafide smile and it was making Clarke blush. _None of that_ , she told her body.

“I’m glad to see that you’ve finally embraced your role.” Clarke shrugged, their conversation coming to a stand still. Clarke looked down at her feet and wiggled her toes to bury herself deeper into the sand. _Maybe if I dug deep enough I could escape these feelings that I have no business having_.

“What are you doing alone on the beach? Especially on Memorial Day.” It was an innocent enough question. Clarke shrugged once again.

“I ditched the party that I was at. The company was not to my liking.” She frowned a little. Then she remembers. “That reminds me.” Bellamy looked at her expectantly. “I talked to Jaha today.” Bellamy sighed and nodded. _She never turned off, did she?_

“How’d that go?”

“It went. He said that he would talk to his advisor’s after the holiday.”

“What does that even mean?” His brain was not in business mode at the moment so he had no really capacity for corporate bargaining. He was in his happy-go-lucky mood and she was not going to bring him down.

“It could go either way really. But I’m pretty sure that I swayed him enough to drop the sale.”

“That’s great, Clarke. I hope everything works out.” Clarke gave a sort of half smile. _And oh god he actually said my name, not princess_. “Now, enough business. Do you want to join me at this party or do you want to be alone on the beach some more?” His mood bounced back from the serious one that had pervaded the conversation just a second ago. Envious of his ability to do that, she thought about his proposition. _What the hell._

“Sure, I’ll join you.”

***********

Memorial Day did not go at all like Bellamy thought it would. First, he was on the beach which he does surprisingly less frequent than you would think since he lives in a beach town. Second, he spent the entire day with Clarke. He had no idea what he was thinking when he invited her to the party. He knew she didn’t know anybody but she just looked so alone and sad that he felt the need to make her feel neither of those things, at least for the day. They talked about everything and nothing at the same time. She was just as much of a sarcastic asshole as he was. Sometimes it would deviate into full blown arguing but they always bounced back with one of them just blurting about a random fact or question, never settling too long in the tense anger fueled silences that happen post-argument.

Third, he spent the entire _night_ with Clarke. This was clearly something that he wanted but never expected in a million years to happen. She said that she was going to head home and he offered to walk her home. He had no real knowledge of just how far (or how close) her house but he wasn’t quite ready to get rid of her yet so he offered like any nice gentleman would. She seemed hesitant at first, looking him right in the eyes with a guarded and appraising look like she was arguing with herself whether he was worthy to accompany her home. Apparently he was because she nodded and stood up from the log they were camped on in front of the fire. She had her wedges in one hand and started walking down the beach. He jumped off the log and went after her. She smirked over her shoulder at him. Then she got a little nervous, he could tell. Whenever she got nervous, she receded into herself like she was warning herself of something. _You make her nervous_ , his brain supplied. Which, that was new. Why would he, Bellamy Blake, make her, Clarke Griffin, queen of the ocean, nervous? He got part of an answer when he felt her stand just a little closer and slip her hand into his, hesitantly intertwining their fingers. He tightened his grip. _Oh my god she’s holding your hand. Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out. You’re getting clammy; calm down. Nobody wants to hold clammy hands._ He looked over to her and gave a little, completely enamored, smile which she returned. She bumped her shoulder against him and huddled herself against his side.

They walked down the beach in relative silence which wasn’t uncomfortable. They were so wrapped up in just holding hands and being each others presence. It didn’t take that long to come upon Clarke’s place. She slowed in front of small cottage on the beachfront. She cleared her throat and looked at him full in the face. Clearly nervous again.

“So, you’re actually the first person I’ve ever had over, I mean that is if you come inside. I just mean, I’ve never actually shown anybody where I live. I don’t really invite people over and nobody asks to so it just never happened. So, like, feel special.” _She’s so cute when she’s nervous._ He smirked and let go of her hand to through his arm over shoulders to pull her to him. She stiffened when she hit his chest but relaxed and put her arms around his waist.

“I already felt special but now I feel even more so,” he murmured into her hair. She tightened her hold for a moment and then stepped back to climb up the stairs.

“So, do you want to come in?”

“Only if you want me to.” She seemed to contemplate his retort. Then put on a really gentle smile that made his heart skip a beat.

“I do. I really do.”

“Okay.” He walked up behind her and they entered the house together. It was dark but once she turned on a lamp, it illuminated the interior. It was an open floor plan with a small living space off to the right that was used as a bedroom with a TV, bed, and dresser and an adjoining kitchen and to the left was two doors. One was the bathroom but the other opened to a room that he had no idea was in there because the door wasn’t open all the way.

“It’s not much. Obviously there’s my bedroom and kitchen. But uh through this door is my studio.” She walked to the semi-open door and pushed in. He followed and his senses were immediately overwhelmed by the colors, the odd smells, and the general clutter of the room. Her other living spaces were relatively neat, an organized messy, but this was something else. She probably knew where everything was but to him it looked like a tornado hit.

“Wow.”

“Yeah, I know it’s a mess but whatever. I’m not a neat freak like _some people_.” She meant him. He just liked things to orderly and clean why was that such a bad thing. “It’s just kinda how my brain creates. And also I have no time to organize this place so wherever I put something down is its new home. But, anyway, this is where I make my boards and other general art making.”  
“I didn’t know you made your own board.” He was actually really impressed. He always liked her boards. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Uh, yeah, I had been doing it for awhile but I just recently got back into it.” There was a story there, he could tell, but he didn’t know how to broach that subject.

“Why did you stop?”

“I went away for a little bit and had no space to work.” Evasive as ever.

He walked out from behind her and moved more into the studio, studying the sketched pinned to the walls and littering the desks. There were technical drawings of boards and then just regular charcoal drawings of the beach everywhere. It was like the inside of her brain was just scattered all over this room. Then he ran across a picture of what assumed was little Clarke and her dad.

“Is this you and your dad?”

“Yeah.” A sad look came across her face. “He loved surfing and the beach in general. That picture was taken on the first day I started surfing. I was absolutely awful but it was a way to be around him without my mom so I was determined to get as good as him. Eventually I did get good enough but he never got to see me win any trophies or anything like that.”

“Is he the reason you stopped your board making for a little bit?”

“Yes and no.” He gave her a look like _that doesn’t answer my question at all_. She sighed. “Come on.” She walked out the room and headed to her kitchen. He followed. “Do you want something to drink? I have… water.”

“Sure, thanks.” She got their drinks silently and then handed him his. She walked to her bedroom and sat on her bed with her back leaning on the wall and head tipped back as if gathering strength to tell this story. He became nervous all of a sudden. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” She peeked at him.

“No, I want to. I’m just trying to gather everything.” She patted the spot next to her. He sat down and nudged his water between his legs so he didn’t have to hold it the whole time. He felt that this was going to be a long story.

“So, I’m just gonna come out and say it because I have no earthly idea how I would tell you but I was in juvie for eighteen months before I came here.” Okay, he definitely wasn’t expecting that. _Wait, the courthouse_. She must have seen the connection flash across his face. “Yeah, I was going to see my parole officer when we met at the courthouse. I was there for theft of government property, resisting arrest, and assaulting an officer. Everything just kinda ties in so stay with me. So, my dad had been on a government contract to design some big classified project that I’m still not allowed to tell anybody so don’t ask me; it’s part of my parole.” She was getting gradually more angry as she progressed with her story. He grabbed her hand as if to say I’m still with you. She gave him a withering smile and clutched right back. “Which I think is fucking stupid because it was the whole reason I did what I did in the first place. Ugh, whatever. My dad discovered something wrong with the designs and he wanted to tell everyone to, you know, _not use that thing because it’s fucking defective,_ but they were already in production and it would have cost billions of dollars and they couldn’t risk that so they tried to keep him quiet with money and stuff but my dad wasn’t into that. So he wanted to blow the whistle. He had everything on the defects but he was arrested before he could actually leak it. This is where I come in. Since our government is full of idiots, when they came to take my dad away I pocketed one of the hard drives that he kept hidden away. I vaguely said to him that I would finish what he started. Not in so many words because, like, there were feds all over the place. The last look I ever saw my father give me was a deploring one to _not_ do what I already made up my mind to do. My moral compass fucks me over sometimes.” She gave a self deprecating laugh. He was looking at her with more admiration and awe than he had ever felt for someone. Everything started to make sense to him. She had the same hardness that Octavia did when she got out. He didn’t think he could like her anymore than he did right in that moment.

“So, seeing as I am not a master computer nerd or anything remotely in the realm of whistleblowing, I was caught before all the documents were released, which I think is a good thing in hindsight, at least for me. If the documents did get out I could have possibly been tried under the Patriot Act which is no fun. But since nothing got out, it was just theft. I was sentenced for a lot longer than I actually got but I turned eighteen in juvie so my case was reviewed then and apparently I was a model prisoner or my mom paid an unreasonable amount of money or something thing equally dubious because they released me on strict parole and since I was eighteen I didn’t have go into the foster system or through my mom. So I chose the city that held the county seat so I didn’t have to go far for my parole meetings and on the beach for obvious reasons.”

“Wait, sorry to interrupt but you said you were also charged with assault. Where does that factor in?” She smirked at this. This was sometime that actually amused her, which was undeniable hot.

“Uh, yeah, so when they were arresting me, I was not having it. My flight or fight instincts kicked in and this time my brain chose fight so I tried to get out of the cuffs and in the processed I elbowed one of the officers in the face and broke his nose.” She was blushing now. This was perhaps the most Bellamy had ever been turned on by a girl in his entire life up to that point. His gaze dipped to her lips because how could they not when she was smiling about breaking a guy’s nose? He really wanted to kiss her in that moment.

So he did.

It was closed mouth kiss full of passion that caught her completely off guard (and honestly he caught himself off guard with that one) but she quickly settled into it. Eventually oxygen was needed so they detached from each other. Bellamy rested his forehead on hers, breathing heavily.

“Not that I didn’t love that, but what made you want to do that?” Clarke asked, slightly out of breath.

“You were just so hot when you started talking about beating up a police officer.” She giggled, a sound that Bellamy wouldn’t mind listening to forever.

“Glad you find my violent tendencies a turn on,” she said in a very flirty tone that was doing nothing to calm down his ever growing desire to do more than kiss her. He even groaned at that statement. Making it clear that she was killing him. “I would love to tell you that I got into a some real catfights while in lock up but I was in solitary, affectionately called the Skybox, for the first nine months because of the ‘sensitivity of my crime.’ What a load of horse shit. Afterwards, I was in and out because of fighting and my general inability to act with any sense of humor at the time. Those fights were scary. I never really started them but I always finished them. There was this one girl named Anya. By that time, I only had like three months left on my sentence. I had been out of solitary for a week. She really had it out for me. I thought we were finally at a point where our pointless back and forth was going to stop but then she just started wailing on me. I wasn’t going to take that lying down so I fought back. Hard. That’s actually how I got the scar on my cheek. I had a lot on my face mostly at first but they've faded and healed. And then there was one. While we came out of that fight with mutual respect, that didn’t stop me from being confined to solitary for rest of my sentence.”

“Yeah, you getting hurt doesn’t turn me on.” She smiled at him, a close lipped one but still a smile.

“But yeah, after that shitshow, I did not want to be around my mom because she was actually the one that ratted my dad out to his employer. She thought they could make him see reason but all it really did was get them to call the feds on him. I will never forgive my mom for that.” She said that last statement with such vehemence that Bellamy squeezed their still intertwined hands. He could practically feel the hurt and betrayal coming off of her. “So I tried to move away from her because I didn’t want her in my life at all. But she eventually found me and now she lives in the house behind me. She tried to convince me to move in with her but that is never going to happen for as long as I live.” Bellamy got up off the bed, moved his glass of water to the bedside table, and then lied back on the bed while enveloping Clarke in one swift motion. Clarke adjusted herself into a comfortable cuddle position. She started tracing nonsense patterns over his stomach that made him clench his muscle because they almost tickled.

“Thank you for telling me.” Clarke lifted her hand to rest her chin on her hand and look at him. She smiled serenely and leaned forward to press a small kiss to his lips.

“Thank you for listening. That’s actually the first time I’ve ever talk about it to somebody who wasn’t immediately involved. I’m glad it was you.” Bellamy resumed kissing her because he really liked doing that. After a little bit, Clarke leaned back and said between kisses, “You know, you’re going to have to tell me your tragic backstory soon or else this is entirely too one-sided.”

“Hmm, later. Right now I just want to kiss you.”

“I think that can be arranged.” Then she swooped to down to kiss him with more fervor than she had before.

(Which lead to more than just kissing.)

(Bellamy didn’t go home that night.)

***********

Clarke is straddling Bellamy with their fingers interlocked in front of her, intermittently moving their arms in tandem around. She's sitting on the upper most part of his hips so her knees are just barely touching his armpits and cage his ribs. She’s sitting up straight backed (a princess always has perfect posture) without a shirt on. This is possibly the most beautiful sight Bellamy has ever laid his eyes. A post coital glowing Clarke above him with an amused smirk on her face. 

“What?"

"Do you work out? Because all I see you eat is burgers but you're buff and toned so it makes for an odd combination." Bellamy raises his brows are her in amusement and surprise.

“Watching my eating habits, princess?” She scoffed and wriggled around to jostle him because she couldn’t smack him seeing as they were in his clutches. “I’ve worked at the lumber yard since I was your age so I work out everyday whether I want to or not." Her brows knot.

"How old are you?" It such an innocent question that it makes Bellamy laugh a little on the inside. 

"21" 

"What are you doing hanging out with a bunch of teenagers? Shouldn't you be at the bar or something?" 

"Those bikers are my family and my friends. I don't need the bar when I already have the Drop Ship. Besides, if I wanted to be at the bar or drink I would." Clarke smirks and leans down to whisper in his ear. 

"Anything we want, any time we want, right?" She murmurs before nibbling at his earlobe. A shiver runs through him at her touch. Their fingers are still interlocked so she has almost full control right now. 

"Fuck yes" she chuckles at his obvious arousal. He uses her position to his advantage and flips them over using his core strength and settles himself in the crook of her hips, his favorite position if he’s being honest.

***********

One day, Bellamy and Clarke are sitting together at the Drop Ship just wasting away a summer's day when Clarke comes to a realization. She turns to him.

“You know, I’ve never seen you without your hair slicked back.” He furrowed his brow.

“Really?”

“Yeah. And now I am dying to know what really is going on up there.” He smirked.

“Hmm well if you _really_ want to know. I think something can be arranged.” Clarke’s eyes light up and thousand watt grin spread across her face.

“Really?”

“On one condition.”

“What?” At this, Bellamy became nervous and bashful. Which is a really cute look on him, but it is not a common one. He glanced downwards and took a breath.

“Show me how to surf?” Clarke didn't know if was hearing him right but she went with it.

“You want me to show you how to surf?” He looked at her with a look that clearly stated that he did not want to say that again and would not. Her face light up with excitement and she sprung up to hug him because she just couldn’t sit still. “Of course I will!”

The surf lesson went about as expected. Lots of squabbling and frustration laced with giggles and encouragement. Bellamy wasn’t going to become a master surfer anytime soon, but he could honestly say he had fun in the water. Clarke was over the moon with the whole experience because she got to share something she loved with someone she loved (she will not be telling that him anytime soon but that vague thought keeps popping up in her mind when she thinks about him and it is not going away so she is ignoring it for now). She was happy for any occasion that involved Bellamy without a shirt, if only to see those adorable freckles that have no right to be on a man that would be down right model worthy even without them.

After they got out of the water and back to Clarke’s, Bellamy said, “We’re killing two birds with one stone today, princess.” That nickname became a term of endearment and Clarke was 100% okay with it.

“How so?”

“I didn’t bring my gel with me.” Clarke looked at him with a shocked look on her face before she gave a shit eating grin.

“You do not know how excited I am for this.”

“Oh I think I can tell.”

It didn’t take long for Bellamy’s hair to spring back into it’s natural form of those lazy almost curls that laid against his forehead and covered the tips of his ears. Clarke couldn’t resist running her fingers through it in amazement. She made an appreciative noise. 

“Never slick back your hair again,” Clarke said through a daze. It was almost as if she hadn't actually meant to say it. It just slipped.

“If you keep doing what you’re doing, I just might not.” Clearly, he was enjoying the scalp message just as much as Clarke was enjoying his unbound hair. Clarke gave a grin that could rival the Chesire cat’s. Clarke moved her face towards his ear so she could whisper.

“Now I finally have something to hold on to.” She nibbled his earlobe and took it into her mouth with her tongue. A shiver ran through his body and a moan escaped his mouth without any hesitation.

“Yeah. Definitely never slicking my hair back ever again.”


End file.
